


Thwap!

by ExtraPenguin



Category: The Goblin Emperor - Katherine Addison
Genre: Gen, Snow, Snowball Fight
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-28
Updated: 2017-12-28
Packaged: 2019-02-23 03:29:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13181418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ExtraPenguin/pseuds/ExtraPenguin
Summary: Maia gets a moment's respite from Emperor-ing when the snow turns soft.





	Thwap!

After Winternight, the snow kept falling, and soon the Ethuveraz was knee-deep in it. The powdery fluff was beautiful, and Maia could only sigh wistfully whenever he saw it from his window. To be free to play, like Idra and Ino and Mireän!

A few days later, he got his wish. The weather had turned warmer, making the snow sticky and malleable, when Maia took a luncheon break. Gleeful, he sank his hands into the snow and scooped it up. It was slightly damp, compared to the past days, and when pressed together, it stayed.

Hit by inspiration, Maia made a snowball. It stayed in its roughly spherical shape. He threw it at a tree. It hit with a satisfying "thunk" and stayed put, a white dome on the rough black bark.

This was a youthful glee he hadn't felt for quite some time. He scooped up another batch of snow, larger this time, and packed it together, then threw it at a more distant tree–

–which was on the other side of a path. A path which Lieutenant Telimezh walked along, oblivious to the snowball that hit him square in the back of the head.

Maia's heart and ears fell. "Telimezh! Are you all right?" he shouted.

"Y- Yes, Serenity!" Telimezh hollered back. Beside him, Kiru seemed to be holding back laughter.

Maia spared a quick glance at Beshelar beside him. Beshelar's disapproval seemed more directed at Telimezh. "Would you like to join us in our game of snowball marksmanship?" Maia asked.

"Snowball marksmanship? We're in!" Csethiro called from an open window.

"Who will guard you, Serenity?" Beshelar asked. "We cannot all participate."

"We can stand guard while the rest of you enjoy yourselves," Kiru said. "This enclosed courtyard should pose little risk, so only one guard should be necessary."

Even Beshelar seemed to assent to that after a moment. Maia was relieved. "Thank you," he said to Kiru. He turned to the door from whence Csethiro would arrive into the courtyard, only to be greeted with a snowball to the face.

Maia wiped the snow from his face, ready to defend the assailant from Beshelar's scorn, only to discover that Cala and Beshelar were taking their duties very seriously indeed – and had thrown a volley of snowballs at Csethiro and Vedero already. Maia ducked for cover as the women grouped up with Telimezh, and gestured for Cala and Beshelar to follow.

There were a few denser clusters of trees in the courtyard. Maia led his nohecharei to one, then started what became a war of sniping, each toss setting off a flurry of counter-tossing hoping to catch the tosser and counter-counter-tossing and so forth.

Maia had just scored a hit on Telimezh, in a flurry of activity that had included Cala getting a snowball to his hair, when they were interrupted by Ino's cheerful exclamation of "Snowball snow!"

"Come join our snowball fight!" Vedero called out from behind the other copse of trees.

"Oooh!" Ino and Mireän squealed in unison, scooping up snow and looking for targets to toss snowballs at.

Being a good sport, Maia danced out from behind his tree, snowballs in hand, and let Mireän snowball him while he threw one at Idra, who ducked Maia's snowball but not Telimezh's.

Soon, the snowball fight descended into a free-for-all, with snowballs flying to and fro and everyone churning up the courtyard to dodge or get more material for constructing snowballs.

While most were content to be on only their own side, and Maia even spotted Kiru slyly throwing a few snowballs at Cala and Telimezh's backs, Beshelar staunchly remained by Maia's side, never quite throwing himself in the path of coming snowballs but clearly resisting the urge.

The winter nights were long and days short, and eventually the first signs of dusk crept in. By that time, most of the available snow had been exhausted or trampled, so all involved trod indoors to strip off soaked outer layers and drink tea. Kiru arranged for a blend of ginger and raspberry leaves with honey, citing medicinal properties and excellent taste. An apprentice cook found a willing audience for her log cake and cookies.

Maia was sated and happy. He picked up a dry oat-crumb cookie and slumped against a warm Lieutenant Beshelar. Beshelar may not approve, but the Imperial mask could wait for later. Maia half-dozed in the children's chatter.


End file.
